BIOGRAPHIES: V thru Z; Lyon County, Iowa
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NOTE: For more information on Lyon County, Iowa
Please visit the Lyon County, IAGenWeb page
at http://iagenweb.org/lyon/
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Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Lyon County,
Iowa. Published under the Auspices of the Pioneer Association
of Lyon County. Geo. Monlun, Pres.; Hon. E. C. Roach Sec'y; and
Col. F. M. Thompson, Historian. Geo. A. Ogle & CO., Published,
Engravers and Book Manufacturers. Chicago, 1904-1905
Transcribed for Lyon County by Darlene Jacoby and Diane Johnson
-V-
VAN EATON, GILBERT L.
Gilbert L. Van Eaton, the mayor of Little Rock, and the leading lumber dealer of
the place, is a man who is gifted with the ability to disregard hard knocks. By
virtue of his push and perseverance he has attained a position of considerable
prominence in the village where he has resided for the past eighteen years. A
very common everyday sort of man to meet, a man "educated in the rough school of
life," "Van," as he is familiarly called, has a wonderful faculty for
formulating schemes and carrying them through with a rush that has always been a
surprise to his friends.
Mr. Van Eaton was born October 14, 1843, a Hoosier, and the eighth of nine
children born to James and Gulie (Brown) VanEaton, a good old Holland name. The
mother died when he was three years old, and soon after her loss the family
settled in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, where he was reared to farm life, and
becoming a farm hand when only fourteen years old, and from that time on he made
his own living. At the second call for troops in 1861 the young man hastened to
don the Union blue, and became a member of Company A. Sixteenth Wisconsin
Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was sent immediately south and attached to the
Army of the Tennessee. It very soon smelt powder at Shiloh, and participated in
battles at Iuka, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg, where his company was in
summer quarters at Lake Providence. Mr. VanEaton reenlisted before the
expiration of his three years, and became part of the great body that under
General Sherman swept from Atlanta to the sea. After the grand review at
Washington the regiment was mustered out of service, and Mr. VanEaton received
an honorable discharge, a token of an order of merit of which he is justly
proud.
After the war Mr. VanEaton was again engaged in farming in Wisconsin, spent some
two years in Minnesota, went back to Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1872
voyaged by "prairie schooner" to Osceola County, Iowa, where he homesteaded a
quarter section of land, his resources at that time being three horses, a wagon
and $45 in money, but he was young and full of energy. His wife joined him in
the summer, and life was begun on the prairies.
Until 1883 Mr. VanEaton conducted his farming with much profit, but for the sake
of schooling for the children he rented his farm that year and removed to
Sibley, where for two years he sold farm implements. Two years later he came to
Little Rock, and became the junior member of the firm of Shell & VanEaton,
dealers in grain lumber and coal. The business thus established is still in
existence, and he has become an old and honored resident of Little Rock. Active
in public affairs he is now serving his third term as mayor. In political
matters he is a Republican, and claims that "he votes as straight as he shot."
He is chairman of the township Republican committee, a position he has filled
for many years.
In 1865 Mr. VanEaton and Miss Elizabeth Fridd, a native of Wisconsin, were
married, and to their union were born two children, Jennie, now the wife of A.Z.
Minton, a hardware merchant of Little Rock; and Myrtie, the wife of Daniel Dean,
railroad agent at Sheldon. It is the ambition of Mr. VanEaton to spend the rest
of his active life on the farm, and it is his intention to very soon make the
change.
VAN WAGENEN, MR.and MRS. I. W.
The Van Wagenen family was among the old settlers of Iowa, and since 1882 have
resided in Lyon County, where their genuine worth and high character quickly won
for them a most enviable standing. The father has passed to a well-deserved rest
in the better land, but a numerous and honorable progeny remain, who well
sustain the honor of the family name.
Isaac Walter Van Wagenen was born in Pickaway County, Ohio near what was then
the pleasant little village of Williamsport, December 1, 1830, and numbered
among his ancestors many distinguished characters. His childhood and early youth
were passed in his native county, where he obtained such educational advantages
as the somewhat primitive schools of his time afforded. In 1845 he accompanied
his parents to Washington County, Iowa when that region was a wilderness, and
assisted them in the construction of a home and the making of a farm. His
marriage to Elizabeth Moreland occurred August 10, 1851. She was the daughter of
a pioneer neighbor, and admirably adapted to second her husband's every effort
to make his way in a new country. They remained in Washington County until 1882,
when they removed to Rock Rapids, where in due course of time his honorable and
useful life was terminated.
Mr. Van Wagenen was one of the most useful and highly respected citizens of Rock
Rapids, and universal testimony is borne to his kind heart and unaffected
delight in well doing. He was a great reader, and his wide information gave his
conversation unusual interest. Seventeen months before his death, October 27,
1902, he was suddenly prostrated by alarming sickness, from which he never
rallied. For more than a year he was kept to his bed almost continuously. During
all this time he kept his spirit and concealing his suffering as much as he
possibly could did everything in his power to lighten the burden to his family.
A devout Catholic, his faith was firm and he had no fear of that death which he
soon realized was not far from him. At his funeral services, which were
conducted at the Church of the Holy Name, Rock Rapids, were eleven priests to
participate in the services, with Father Sanders of Cherokee, to celebrate
requiem high mass, and Father Cook, Rock Rapids, to preach a funeral sermon
singularly touching and beautiful
Mrs. Van Wagenen, who is still living in Rock Rapids at an advanced age, was the
daughter of a pioneer who came into Iowa as early as 1836, when she was but six
years old. She was later sent east to school and in 1845 returned to her
parents' home where she found herself on the very edge of the western wild. Wild
game abounded, and the Indians were still numerous. They were accustomed to
gather at her father's house, where they were always kindly treated. She became
a great favorite with them, especially after she had mastered their language
through the instructions of one of their medicine men. She could mount her horse
and ride anywhere in the wilds without fear, as the Indians would protect her
with their lives.
Mrs. Rose Moreland, mother of Mrs. I.W. Van Wagenen, was born in Ireland,
February 12, 1812 and came to her death in Rock Rapids November 9, 1902, after a
year of close confinement to her bed and much suffering resulting from a
fractured him produced by a fall. She was brought to this country by her parents
when but five years of age, and when she married, lived for a time in
Washington, Iowa. In 1898 moving to Rock Rapids to make her home with her
daughter, Mrs. Van Wagenen. Until the hour of her broken him she was regarded as
a wonderfully hale and active old lady, and as long as she was able, attended
the services of the Catholic church, of which she was a faithful member, with
the utmost regularity. Her remains rest in the Catholic cemetery at Washington
by the side of her husband who preceded her to the better world by some nineteen
years. The Moreland family has a somewhat remarkable history for longevity.
There was an aunt of Mrs. Van Wagenen who lived to be one hundred and twelve
years old, and her grandfather attained the age of a hundred years. One of the
brothers of Mrs. Rose Moreland became a noted lawyer of Pittsburg.
Solomon Van Wagenen, father of Isaac W., died while still a young man; but his
father Solomon, was a carpenter by trade and a soldier in the War of 812. The
mother of Isaac W. Van Wagenen, Elizabeth Atherton, was born in New York, and
lived to be seventy-five years of age. Her father, Theophalis Atherton, was a
clergyman, and lived to be ninety-nine years old. He preached his own funeral
sermon, and then dropped dead. His father also a preacher, gave his own funeral
sermon, and died when over a hundred years old.
To Mr. and Mrs. Van Wagenen have come the following children: Anthony, studied
law, and graduating from the State University, began his professional career in
Washington County, but later removing to Rock Rapids, where he was appointed
Judge of the eleventh judicial circuit. One account of this position he made his
home at Sioux City, where later he was elected to succeed himself, and here he
still lives, engaged in the practice of his profession. He is married, and has
two children, Gertrude and Anthony. The second child was James E., who became a
merchant, and died at the age of thirty-eight. Theresa and Joseph died while
children. Mary, the wife of P.H. McCarthy, is engaged with her husband in the
newspaper business. Francis lives in Mitchell, South Dakota, where he is engaged
in the practice of law. In 1898 he graduated from the Iowa State University. He
has two children, Arthur and Raymond. Nora, who is finely versed in the
mercantile business, is engaged in the largest retail store in Rock Rapids. John
A., who graduated from the Des Moines law school, is now interested, with his
brother Anthony, in valuable patents covering an automatic telephone switch
board that enables the user to press the button and be instantly connected. They
have headquarters at Pierce, Nebraska, where they are building up a large
business in installing their outfit in many towns. Sarah is at home. Anna died
at the age of twenty-six years and Genevieve at the age of eight months. Agnes
lived to be twenty-seven years old, and Margaret is attending St. Clair College
in Wisconsin.
Mr. Van Wagenen and his excellent wife celebrated their golden wedding August
10, 1901, in time to occupy the new home which he had but recently erected and
filled with everything that could add to the comfort of his family. In it he had
many quaint and curious relics of the old days and the vanished races. A set of
solid mahogany chairs, which had been in the family for more than two hundred
years, was highly regarded by him, as was a looking glass, a bonnet and a silk
dress all more than two hundred years old.
-W-
WALLACE, G.C., M.D.
G.C. Wallace, M.D., a well-known and successful physician in Rock Rapids for
more than twenty years, and possessing the confidence of the community to a
marked degree, was born in Ohio in 1851, and was brought into Iowa by his
parents in 1854. This was before the construction of the first railroad across
the Mississippi river, or the introduction of the steam car into the mighty
prairies of Iowa.
Dr. Wallace attended high school, and was then engaged in the drug business,
where he turned his attention to medicine as affording a desirable profession
for his active years. In 1868 he entered the Keokuk Medical College, from which
he was graduated in 1870. Dr. Wallace was at first located in Washington county,
Iowa, where he remained until 1882. That year he transferred himself and his
belongings to Rock Rapids, where he still remains, and holds a position in the
local medical field almost without a rival. A close student, and desiring to be
abreast with the medical science of the times, he has taken several post-
graduate courses in diseases of women and children, diseases of the eye and ear,
and special courses in practical surgery, anatomy, chemistry, materia medica,
and therapeutic obstetrics, etc. Dr. Wallace was once called upon to amputate
all four limbs for a young man at one time. He did this successfully, and saved
the man's life -- a rare achievement in surgery. Dr. Wallace has performed many
complicated and dangerous surgical operations, most of which were completely
successful. He is a descendant of Sir William Wallace, Scotland's famous hero,
and in almost every generation of his ancestors have been men of note, and
distinguished alike in the arts and professions to which they have addressed
themselves.
Dr. Wallace is a member of Palladium Lodge, Knights of Pythias, in which he
filled all the chairs, and has been representative to the Grand Lodge. He is a
Republican, and enjoys the respect and confidence of a host of warm friends in
the community in which his useful life is passing.
WATSON, GEORGE H.
George H. Watson, a retired businessman of Rock Rapids, with varied and eventful
experiences as farmer and dealer in agricultural implements, was born May 4,
1862 near Freeport, Illinois, a son of Frederick and Eliza (Stocks) Watson. His
parents were native to the soil of England and came to this country about 1842.
For some two years they lived on a rented farm in Pennsylvania, and then coming
to Stephensen County, Illinois settled on a farm near Freeport. There the father
still lives at the advanced age of eighty years, and there George H., whose name
introduces this article, was born. The elder Watson retired from active labors
about fifteen years ago and is now enjoying the results of honorable and
industrious years. His wife, the mother of George H., died in 1887, when sixty-
six years old. She was the mother of twelve children, eight sons and four
daughters. All are living, have married and have had children.
George H. Watson was reared on the farm, but living as his parents did, only
about a mile and a half north of Freeport, he and his brothers and sisters would
walk to the city school, thus securing better schooling than falls to the
average farm lad. In 1883 he was married to Miss Rose E. Engle, by whom he
became the sire of four children: Edward E., William B., Stephen W., and
Marguerite.
After his marriage he remained at home until the fall of 1886. That year he
removed to Lyon County, where he bought a farm comprising one hundred and sixty
acres of wild prairie land. This he converted by hard labor into a very
desirable place, with a neat and attractive frame house and other needed
buildings. His home was maintained on this place until 1889 when he moved to
Rock Rapids and went into the agricultural implement business. In this he ran a
very successful career, and in the fall of 1897 practically retired from
business. At the present time he owns two sections of fine land in Garfield,
Rock and Midland Townships in Lyon County. His present fine home was bought
several years ago. Then it cost some $5,000. Today it could not be duplicated
for less than $8,000. In politics he is a staunch Republican, and cast his first
presidential vote for J.G. Blaine. Both Mr. and Mrs. Watson are prominent in the
Methodist church.
WEATHERLY, JOHN L.
John L. Weatherly, the present recorder of Lyon County, and one of the most
successful farmers of Doon Township, was born in Marshall County, Iowa, February
3, 1859, a son of Timothy and Catherine (Hauser) Weatherly. His father was an
old pioneer settler of Marshall County, where he is still living at the age of
seventy-four years. Frederick Hauser, the father of Mrs. Catherine Weatherly,
followed farming, and was an ordained minister of the Christian Church for more
than twenty years. When he died he closed a career of more than three-quarters
of a century. The Hauser family is of English descent, her grandfather having
been born in Yorkshire, England, and coming to this country early in life. He
became a pioneer in the settlement of Indiana, and as he was a man of much
education, broad spirit and patriotic purposes, he was elected to congress. He
was a staunch member of the Christian Church, and in reply to the question if he
would carry his Christian principles to congress said he would not advocate any
principle or countenance any measure contrary to the law of God.
John L. Weatherly spent his early life at home, attending school and helping his
father on the farm. When he reached his majority he rented a farm, and continued
farming until 1885, when he removed to Lyon County, where he purchased one
hundred and sixty acres of wild land. Here he settled and in six years had
converted the wild prairie into a highly improved farm, with a good farmhouse,
and a barn 36 by 74 feet, as well as other buildings needed to care for his
stock and grain. In 1891 he removed his home to the village of Doon where he
engaged in buying and selling grain, still retaining the farm. In 1894 he sold
out his grain trade, which had become well established and profitable, and went
on the road as a collector and salesman. Three years later he returned to the
farm, and cultivated a half section of land until his election as county
recorder in 1902. Public position is not strange to Mr. Weatherly, as previous
to this he had been assessor of the township two terms and town clerk five
terms. He had been justice of the peace two terms, and in the village of Doon
had been president of the school board one term. In the Doon lodge of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows he has been very active, having passed through
all the chairs. For eighteen years he has been a faithful and devoted member of
the Christian Church. In November 1879 he was married to Miss Eliza, a daughter
of John and Nancy Long, pioneer farmer people of Indiana. This union has been
blessed by the birth of six children: Minnie, Elsie, Floyd, Coila, Laura and
Royce.
WEBB, JOHN H.
John H. Webb, who is now the proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty
acres in section 34, Lyon County, where he located in March 1904, first settled
in 1883, in section 27, of the same township. His nearest neighbors being at
that time David Bruner, Benjamin Whitmore and Washington Lyon. Mr. Webb was born
in Grant County, Wisconsin, December 2, 1847, a son of Thomas F. and Martha
(Anderson) Webb, natives respectively of Kentucky and Virginia. The father was a
miner in early life and later became a farmer. During the Blackhawk War he
served as a soldier. When he died in 1887 he was eighty-three years; his wife
being sixty-four at the time of her demise in 1882. They were the parents of a
family of thirteen children: James M., deceased, county auditor four years, and
deputy treasurer of Lyon County for two years. He served four years in the Fifth
Iowa Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War; Rebecca, the widow of James Green,
of Delaware County, Iowa; Thomas J., a pioneer of Plymouth County, served two
years in the Third Iowa Battery during the Civil War; John H.; LaFayette, a
jeweler at Edgewood, Iowa; Mary, the wife of Seymour Shryock, of Oregon; William
H. deceased; Isabelle, a resident of Washington; Isaac A., an editor in Denver
Colorado; Charles F., a farmer of Colorado; George E., a farmer in Nebraska;
Laura, the wife of Mr. Hamilton, of Pasadena, California; Matthew G. deceased.
Mr. Webb secured his education beyond the common schools in a college at Mineral
Point, Wisconsin, and also at a school in Iowa. Removing from Wisconsin to
Delaware County, Iowa, he made his home in that county until 1873 when he came
to Beloit, Lyon County, where he spent the summer in plastering. For several
years thereafter he worked at farming and threshing in Delaware County, but in
1879 went to South Dakota, where he followed farming for some two years. His
next move was to return to Beloit, where he engaged in the grain business for
some two years, also farming on section 27, of Lyon Township. In March 1904 he
removed to his present home, where the promise of a large success is very
flattering. He is working rapidly into stock raising, having now on hand a
hundred heads of cattle, fifteen horses and a hundred hogs.
Mr. Webb was married February 22, 1884 to Miss Rose D. Tisdale of Delaware
County, Iowa, and a daughter of Leonard and Electa (Hanchett) Tisdale, both of
whom were natives of New York. Her father was a machinist by trade, and later
became a farmer. He died in 1888, at the age of seventy-five years; his widow
surviving until 1893 when she passed away at the age of seventy-six years. They
were the parents of a family of four children: Adaline, Marie, Oscar and Rose
D.,--all of whom are now dead with the exception of Mrs. Webb. Mr. and Mrs. Webb
have had born to them the following children: Charles L., a farmer in Lincoln
County, South Dakota, he married Miss Edith Baning, and has two children: Eugene
T., married Miss Lue Campbell, and has one child: Minnie, deceased; Eva, at
home; Harrison, deceased; Verny, deceased; and Bernice at home.
Mr. Webb holds a prominent position in local and county affairs, and is now
county supervisor. For twelve years he was school director, township trustee for
four years, and justice of the peace two years.
WEBERG, A.P.
A. P. Weberg, of whom a portrait appears on the opposite page, is the present
popular and efficient treasurer of Lyon county. He is a man whose career is a
striking illustration of the persistence, pluck and energy of the Scandinavian
blood, and shows what possibilities the great northwest has opened to men of
that hardy and determined race, who could see an opportunity and had courage to
embrace it.
Mr. Weberg was born in Norway, February 22, 1858, and when ten years of age came
to this country, bound for Rock county, Wisconsin, where friends were to be
found, and where he was to take the burden of his own support upon himself.
Early impressed with the practical value of an education, he worked out on the
farms of that county during the summer time and attended school in the winter.
By 1882, using the strictest economy, he had saved a few dollars and had come
into the possession of a horse. With this as his working capital he came to Lyon
county that year, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, for which he
promised to pay sixteen dollars an acre. In order to meet his payments with the
accrued interest, he had at times to borrow money for which he paid 18 per cent.
This was very discouraging, but he stuck to it, and finally paid out. He not
only has the land, but has greatly improved it and brought it under modern
cultivation.
It has a commodious farm house, a barn 32 by 74 feet, a granary 16 by 28 feet, a
corn crib 24 by 32 feet, a double machine shed 14 by 28 feet, a hog house 20 by
24 feet, and in fact every improvement needed for the keeping of his stock,
grain and machinery as they should be kept. And now this farm, which he acquired
with so much work and worry is easily worth $7,000, if not more. On account of
the health of his wife he purchased a residence in Inwood, and went into the
livery business in that place. He was working up a fine trade, having put in
fourteen horses with buggies and other things to correspond, when the barn and
outfit was totally destroyed by fire. In the effort to save one of his horses,
in the excitement it fell on him, pinning him to the floor, and he was only
rescued a moment before the roof fell in. Mr. Weberg bears the marks of this
close call to the present moment.
Mr. Weberg then bought a small grocery in Inwood, his brother becoming a partner
with him in the enterprise, the farm being known as Weberg Brothers. Gradually
they have enlarged their stock, adding general merchandise and other things as
they needed, until now they have a very complete store and a trade to
correspond. His personal popularity and business standing are so good that the
Republican party, in which he has long been a devoted worker, called him to make
the run for county treasurer in 1901, and he was elected by over 200 majority
against an exceedingly popular Democrat. On his induction to his official
position he removed to Rock Rapids, and purchased the home where he now lives.
In 1903 he was again elected county treasurer, by 770 majority.
Mr. Weberg was married October 28, 1886, to Miss Sophia, a daughter of O.G.
Broadon, of Grant county, Wisconsin. Her father is a native of Norway, has been
a life-long farmer, and is still living at eighty-two years of age. Her mother,
Sarah, also of Norwegian birth, is still living and is over seventy years of
age. Mr. and Mrs. Weberg have three children: Stella Matilda, Ben Harrison and
George Dewey. Mr. Weberg belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with
which he has been connected for some ten years, while he is a charter member of
the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 3398, at Inwood. He united with the
Lutheran church at Inwood, when it had only twelve members, and worked hard to
build it up to its present congregation of nearly three hundred members. It now
has a church building 26 by 46 feet, with an addition 20 by 24 feet.
WEBERG BROTHERS.
Weberg Brothers is a mercantile firm of Inwood, Lyon county, composed of two
brothers, both of whom are notable characters, Joseph, who is in charge of the
store, and A. P., now the county treasurer, whose career is noted under another
heading.
Joseph Weberg was born in Norway, May 30, 1869, and was brought to the United
States by his parents when he was ten years old. They settled on a farm near
Beloit, Wisconsin, and there he received his early education. Early manifesting
mercantile abilities of a high order, when he reached the age of eighteen he
became a clerk in a general store, having already accompanied his parents to
Lyon county in 1882. Ten years later he joined his brother, A. P., in purchasing
a small stock of goods in Inwood, and their success was immediate and marked.
Trade flowed in upon them, and they gradually enlarged their business, taking on
dry goods, boots and shoes, and in fact making it a general store of large
dimensions.
At the present time they are carrying a stock of about ten thousand dollars in a
store 22 by 100 feet, which is shelved to the ceiling, and which they purchased
in 1901.
Joseph Weberg was married I 1895 to Miss Nellie, daughter of J. Jacobson, a
native of Norway. They have two children, Genevieve and Myrtle. Mr. Weberg is a
Republican and has been town trustee. He has been elected a member of the
council, and is now serving in that capacity. Fraternally he is a member of
Lodge No. 521, I. O. O. F., and is a charter member of Camp No. 2898, Modern
Woodmen of America, in which he holds at the present time the position of
manager.
WHEATLY, MATTHEW M.
Matthew M. Wheatly, a resident of Elgin Township, Lyon County, and the owner of
a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres in section 29, is a native of
Yorkshire, England, where he was born August 28, 1855, the fifth member of a
family of twelve children born to Charles and Mary (Middiewood) Wheatly. Seven
members of this large and interesting family are now living.
The subject of this writing was born on an estate that had been in the hands of
the Wheatly family for more than two hundred years. His mother had spent several
years of her girlhood in this country and her accounts of its possibilities made
him leave England while he was still under age. He arrived at Quebec, June 18,
1876, and made his way to Lapeer, Michigan, where he found employment for a
short time on a farm, and though he was a good engineer, he decided that in the
New World he would be a farmer. In 1883 he came to Lyon County, where he
purchased the farm he now owns, paying for it the very modest price of $18 per
acre. Here he settled with his family the following spring, and in the twenty
years intervening has won his standing as a keen and intelligent farmer and a
successful stockman. He has done not a little to improve the grade of cattle
handled by Lyon County farmers and owned one of the first full-blood Galloways
in the county. He has also devoted much attention to the culture of Shropshire
sheep.
For twelve years Mr. Wheatly has been justice of the peace and has long been
actively interested in local politics, having served two years as town trustee.
In school matters he is progressive, and believes in surrounding the children
with the best educational advantages that money can command. He is a Republican,
is a Methodist, and belongs to the Modern Brotherhood of America. He attends the
county convention regularly.
Mr. Wheatly was married in 1876 to Miss Emily Morton, a native of Lincolnshire,
and to their union have come seven children: Edith, now the wife of E.K. Yonker,
a farmer in South Dakota; William, a stockman of North Dakota; Marian, a teacher
of Lyon County; Albert; Eva; Matthew; and Paul. It has been a hard struggle to
meet and overcome the difficulties of the situation; but that he has done, so
the conditions of the farm indicate.
WIEGMAN, BERNARD H.
Bernard H. Wiegman, whose handsome and well appointed farm is in section 7,
Logan township, not far from Larchwood, is one of the hardworking and upright
farmers whose thrift and industry have done so much to make Lyon County the
agricultural garden that it is. He was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, in 1860,
his birthplace being on a farm, and all his life has been devoted to the tillage
of the soil. John B. Wiegman, his father, was born in Germany, and came alone to
this country in 1830, while still a boy. His life was also devoted to the soil.
Bernard H. Wiegman was the third child in a family that numbered eight, and was
reared to farm work in Wisconsin, where he was given such educational advantages
as the condition of the family allowed. Remaining at home until he was twenty-
two years of age he did much to improve the family patrimony, and assist his
parents to a condition of comfortable independence before striking out into the
world for himself.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1884, Mr. Wiegman was married to Miss Rosa Ripperda, also a
native of Wisconsin. Her father, Bernard Ripperda, was a native of Germany, and
had become very prosperous in his adopted country. To this union were born six
children; Bernard, William, George, Stella, Clara, and Edward. For five years
after his marriage Mr. Wiegman continued in Wisconsin cultivating his father's
place; but in 1889, allured by the opportunity of a free farm, with rich and
fertile soil, fine water and clear skies, he decided to remove to Lyon county.
This he did in 1889, and bought land in section 7, Logan township, at what was
almost a nominal price, in the meantime renting a farm near Inwood, on which he
continued two years. In the meantime he greatly improved his own land, put up a
structure 14 by 20 feet, broke up the ground, and brought the land into a
tillable condition.
In 1891 he took possession of his own farm, which was entirely bare of
improvements at the time of his purchase. He now has a house, 16 x 26, with an
addition 14 x 26, and a roomy and convenient kitchen. The place has all the
needed farm buildings, and is adorned by a thrifty grove and a promising orchard
covering an acre or more, which he early planted and has carefully attended. The
farm is fenced on all sides, and has been brought under a high state of
cultivation.
Mr. Wiegman has served as school director five terms, and has filled the office
of township trustee three years. He has always taken a leading part in the
affairs of the community, and has ever been regarded as one of the
representative men of the township. On two occasions he has suffered severe
losses by hail, and has experienced his full share of the troubles and hardships
of early life on the frontier, but has never lost faith in the future of the
county, and is now enjoying to the full the results of his confidence.
WENIG, JACOB
Jacob Wenig, in connection with John W. Barthill, formed a partnership in 1888,
and opened a general store in Inwood, and here they were engaged until October,
1903, when our subject sold his interest to his partner. Mr. Wenig now manages
the store of Volkert Brothers.
Mr. Wenig was born in Wittenberg, Germany, and when he was three years old was
brought by his parents to this country, who made their home in Dubuque, Iowa,
where their son was reared and given a good education. In his early manhood he
was a school teacher, and then became a grain buyer, an occupation which he
followed for several years in New Albin, Iowa. There he began a general store in
1883, which he successfully conducted for several years, when he sold out and
came into Lyon county.
Mr. Wenig was married to Miss H. P. Baske in 1883. To this marriage has come a
family of nine children: Minnie, Lilly, Cora, Erwin, Frank, Fred, Myrtle, Elmer
and Edna. All the children are living, and give bright hopes of the future.
Mr. Wenig has been a member of the Methodist church for over thirty years and
has always been active in promoting its interests. This church has just
dedicated in Inwood the largest and finest temple of worship so far constructed
there. All the cost has been fully met, and there is not a dollar of debt on the
splendid structure. Much of the credit for this desirable result may be justly
attributed to the unceasing effort and liberal spirit of Mr. Wenig. In political
matters he is a Republican, and for over ten years was a member of the school
board. For two terms he was a member of the city council.
WIESE, HERMAN
Herman Wiese is well entitled to mention among the prominent farmers of Garfield
township. He has spent the entire period of his life in Iowa, and for many years
his labors in behalf of the general progress and improvement of Lyon county have
been unceasing. In every possible way he has aided in transforming a wilderness
into a pleasant and beautiful farming country, and has become widely known among
the progressive farmers of Lyon county.
Herman Wiese was born in Scott county, Iowa, on a farm in 1867, where his
father, Henry, who was born in Holstein, Germany, had settled on his arrival in
this country in 1848. He was the first born in a family of seven children, and
was reared to manhood beneath the parental roof. Inured to hard work, and
trained to habits of industry and economy, he became strong and sturdy, and when
he left home in 1888 to care for himself, he was employed as a farm hand until
his marriage. This occurred in 1893, when Miss Emma Kulper became his wife. She
was born in Scott county, and her father, Fred Kulper, a farmer, was born in
Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Wiese have two children, charming little maidens, Hazel
and Alma.
Mr. Wiese removed to Lyon county in 1893, and at first rented a farm in
Cleveland township, where he made a small start, and lived for some two years.
In 1895 he bought the land on which he now lives, the northeast quarter of
section 9, Garfield township. It was in part improved, but Mr. Wiese has greatly
added to it, and now owns a find and well equipped place of two hundred and
forty acres, with a house 18 by 28, and 14 by 20 feet. The barn is 32 by 64
feet, and all out-buildings that are needed are provided on a liberal scale.
About five acres are devoted to a grove, and here Mr. Wiese conducts both stock
and grain raising on a most successful scale. He takes high rank among the early
settlers of the county, and has done his full share for the improvement of the
community.
WILCOX, THOMAS W.
Thomas W. Wilcox, a noted business man of Doon, has been in many places and has
turned his attention to many things. He is active and pushing, always ready for
business, and is never willing to let the opportunity for an honest deal go by.
A portrait of our subject is presented on another page of this volume.
Mr. Wilcox came to Sheldon, Iowa, in 1877, and through the following winter
worked at his trade as a tinner. In the spring of the ensuing year he went on a
farm near Hull, which he carried on for two seasons. For three years he worked
on a farm near Doon, and in 1882 went to California on an emigrant train, where
he found employment in running an engine in a saw-mill camp that was engaged in
turning the redwood trees into lumber. At the end of two years he gave this up
to take a position as an overseer on one of the immense cattle ranches of that
state, but a longing for home brought him back to Iowa in 1886. For two years he
worked at his old trade, that of tinner in Hull, and then coming to Doon,
purchased a hardware stock, the firm being Kaufman & Wilcox. The two were
associated together for a year and a half, when Mr. Wilcox sold out to his
partner, and started in Alvord a similar line, in which he was engaged for four
years. When he retired from the store in Doon he accepted as cash payment for
his interests a quarter section of land in Minnesota. The "hard times" came on,
and no land could be sold, and no accounts collected. So he had to abandon his
business in Alvord, and go on the road as a salesman. He was so employed until
1899, when he was able to secure a place at his trade in Hull, which he held
until 1902. That year he came back to Doon, and bought the hardware store of
Burg Brothers. He has been in business since that time on one of the best
corners of the city, under the firm name of Wilcox & Company.
Thomas W. Wilcox is a son of Thomas L. Wilcox, who was born in Warren county,
New York, and died at the age of sixty-two years, being killed by lightning. His
father, Isaiah Wilcox, was a native of Rhode Island and of English parentage. He
was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died after he had reached the age of
eighty-seven years. The mother of Thomas W. Wilcox was Jane E. Smith, a daughter
of Benjamin Smith, who was of English ancestry, and of Puritan stock.
Mr. Wilcox was married in 1883, while in California, to Miss Lucia M. Burdic.
Her father, David S. Burdic, was born in New York, and died at the age of
seventy-five years. He was the son of Job G. Burdic, who came of a Puritan
ancestry, and was very close to ninety years of age when he died. To this union
there has come one son, Clyde E., now a young man twenty years of age, who is
assistant cashier in the Alvord Savings Bank. Mr. Wilcox is a member of Lodge
538, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Alvord, where he is also connected
with the Modern Brotherhood. He is a Republican, and is recognized as one of the
leading men of this community.
WILLIAMS & GETMAN.
In 1897 N.E. Getman purchased an interest of J.R. Williams at Larchwood, and
they began business under the firm name of Williams & Getman, dealing in drugs
and the material usually carried in first class establishments of the kind.
Their stock of wall paper is said to be the largest carried in the county, and
from the time they opened their doors their trade has gradually increased. Both
members of the firm reside in Larchwood, where they are personally very popular.
They are graduate pharmacists, and do a large prescription business.
N.E. GETMAN was born in Rochester, Minnesota, December 23, 1873, and was brought
by his parents to Ida Grove, Iowa, in 1880, where he received a good academic
education, and made his preparatory studies for the druggist's profession. In
January, 1896, he went before the Iowa State Board of Pharmacy, passed a very
creditable examination and received his diploma. He also is a graduate of the
Northern Illinois College of Opthalmology and Otology of Chicago.
Mr. Getman is the son of R.M. and Evaline (Williams) Getman. The father spent
the most of his life in a successful agricultural career, giving especial
attention to the breeding of fine stock, but has now retired from farming, and
is keeping hotel in Ida Grove, Iowa. His father, Nicholas Getman, came of old
Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. Evaline Getman was a daughter of David and Cynthia
(Hill) Williams, and for information regarding her family the reader is referred
to the biography of J.R. Williams that may be found in another place.
N.E. Getman was married January 21, 1897, to Lila, daughter of P.W. and Julia
(Fisher) Teghtmeyer, a family whose ancestral roots run far back into German
history. Two children have come to this marriage: Wayne and Lola. Mr. Getman is
a Republican, and for three years has served as township committeeman. He is a
member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and has served two terms as banker. In
religion he is connected with the Friends church. Hannah Fisher, the grandmother
of Mrs. N.E.Getman, held the deed of land given by William Penn to Grandfather
Fisher, for land purchased by him of William Penn, showing that the Fisher
family had a very early start in the old colonial days when the best blood of
Holland came to the settlement of "the land of peace," as Penn would make his
territory.
JAMES R. WILLIAMS, the senior member of the firm of Williams & Getman, was born
in Eyota, Minnesota, July 9, 1860, a son of David and Cynthia (Hill) Williams.
The father was a farmer who had gone to Minnesota and settled before the war.
When the first call for troops came from Washington in 1861 he at once responded
and enlisted in the Second Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, Company B, and was with
his command until his death at Chickamauga. His widow continued with her little
family and did the best she could for them. When the Indians became uneasy she
took her family to Ohio, where she remained until after the war. Then she came
back to Minnesota to her land and reared her children to an honorable maturity.
In 1874 she became the wife of Nathan Spencer, with whom she is still living.
David Williams, grandfather of J.R., was born in Wales, but very early in his
life came to these shores.
J.R. Williams spent his early life on the farm, but at the age of seventeen
years he became a clerk in a general store at Eyota. After two years he attended
business college at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and in 1879, after working for a time
with a threshing machine outfit, began work as a bookkeeper. In 1883 he went
into a general mercantile business at Holstein, Iowa, in which he continued for
five years; then selling out he engaged in business at Holyoke, Iowa, under the
firm name of Tinkel & Williams. In 1891 he sold out, and coming to Larchwood,
bought the stock of drugs and goods, under the firm name of J.R. Williams & Co.
Seven years later as noted above, Mr. Getman came into the firm, which then
became Williams & Getman.
Mr. Williams was married in 1884 to Edith, daughter of William and Catherine
McClay, of Scotch and Dutch ancestry, by whom he became the father of five
children: Ralph, Jenetta, Edith, Catherine and Russel, the baby. Mr. Williams is
a Republican, and has been postmaster for two terms. He was mayor of Larchwood
for one year, and is serving as a member of the council at present. For two
terms was town clerk. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Lodge, No. 552, and
the Modern Woodmen of America.
WOODBURN, ISSAC W.
Isaac W. Woodburn, the present trusty and reliable sheriff of Lyon county, and
who still keeps his fine farm about three miles east of Rock Rapids, was born in
Bradford county, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1856, a son of Augustus and Harriet
(Tyrrell) Woodburn. The father was born in Pennsylvania, and the mother in
Connecticut. They came to Iowa from Fillmore county, Minnesota, in 1876, to
settle on a farm comprising a section of land, which they had bought the
previous year. And they still live in Lyon county, a happy, prosperous and
honored family. Our subject's father and mother now live in Rock Rapids.
Isaac W. Woodburn was one of three children born to his parents, two of whom are
yet living. He was always at home and was reared to a farm life, receiving his
education in the neighboring schools, and was prepared to play an honest and
useful part in the drama of the world's work and progress. He was married
January 12, 1879, to Miss Eda Rosebrook, a native of Wankesha county, Wisconsin,
and a daughter of Hiram and Nancy (Hall) Rosebrook. They were natives of New
York, and were among the very early settlers of Wisconsin. He died in Colorado
and she in Rock Rapids. Mrs. Woodburn was one of a family of nine children, and
is herself the mother of seven children, six of whom are now living as follows:
Clyde, Dell, Roy, Doris, Paul, Ralph.
Mr. Woodburn was married in Minnesota, but immediately removed to his present
home, where his father now owns upwards of eight hundred acres of land. In
politics he is a Republican, and cast his first vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. In
his own township he has filled various local offices from time to time, and in
1901 was elected sheriff of the county, and it is safe to say no man ever placed
in that important office has given more general satisfaction than has Mr.
Woodburn. He has a happy faculty of making friends even after serving papers on
those who have been his enemies. They see and know he has a heart as "big as all
outdoors," and is sorry for anyone in trouble. About one of his first
experiences was to go after a crazy man, who carried a huge and murderous-
looking corn knife, and was looking for his Satanic majesty. When Mr. Woodburn
approached him with the request to come along he received a blood-curdling look
and the reply: "I know you, but I haven'[t my knife just now: I have helped you
lots You are Satan." The sheriff brought him in all right, and is now the butt
of many a joke as, "Satan No. 2."
All the uncles of Mr. Woodburn were in the Civil war. The Woodburn family comes
of English blood, and has given many notable men to this country. He is a
prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife belongs to
the Christian church, and is one of the beloved wives and mothers of the
community, of whom if there were more the world would be far better off. A
portrait of Mr. Woodburn appears on another page. He is a member of the Free and
Accepted Masons, No. 406, of Rock Rapids, and Chapter of Rock Rapids.
-Z-
ZORN, WILLIAM
William Zorn is a familiar presence in the township of Doon, where he is well
and favorably known as one of the fore-handed German-American farmers of Lyon
county. His upright character and industrious habits well befit his sturdy
German nature, and in him are found many of the best traits of the race to whose
native integrity, straightforward disposition and genuine worth the whole
country is deeply indebted.
Mr. Zorn was born in Germany in 1847, where his father, John Zorn, was engaged
in business as a painter, being the second member in a family of three children
born to his parents. He was reared to manhood in his native land, where he
mastered the trades of painting and plastering, in which he was engaged for
eighteen years. During the great war of 1870 and 1871, when the French and
Germans were engaged in a life and death struggle, he served in the German army,
and acquitted himself as a gallant soldier.
It was in 1883 that William Zorn crossed the ocean to find in the newer west the
opportunities for industry and ambition that were denied simple manhood in the
crowded regions of his native land. For a few months he worked as a painter in
Chicago, and in the fall of the same year he reached Rock Valley, Iowa, where he
settled and for some four years was engaged in painting. After this he settled
on a farm in Sioux county, close to the Lyon County line, where he made a home
for some four years more. In 1891 he located on a farm in section 34, Garfield
township, which was partly improved at the time of his advent. In 1903 he went
into business, and ran a meat shop for a year. The following year he came to his
present place a fine and well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres,
section 24, Doon township, and one hundred and sixty acres in section 34,
Garfield township. Buildings and improvements of every kind needed for the most
profitable administration of the place are here, and here the subject of this
writing may well be satisfied as he contemplates his broad acres, and thinks
what a peaceful haven his adventurous life has found.
Mr. Zorn was married in 1873 to Miss Louisa Kline, a German compatriot, and by
this union the mother of four children, Robert, Lena, Matilda and Augusta. Mr.
and Mrs. Zorn have a wide circle of friends, and are much respected in the
community where they are passing their quiet and useful years.